Who to believe?

If you're like me, you'll have a mighty struggle trying to make sense of the Big Debate between dueling experts on air quality in North Carolina's mountains. On one hand, you have the conclusions of expert witnesses working for Attorney General Roy Cooper. On the other other hand, you have a "scholars" hired to carry water for the free-market extremists in the JLF Puppetshow.

RALEIGH – Forcing the Tennessee Valley Authority to reduce emissions from its coal-fired power plants would create far more costs than benefits, according to a new John Locke Foundation Policy Report. That finding directly contradicts “expert” opinions N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper cited when filing a lawsuit against the TVA in 2006.

“The attorney general’s experts grossly exaggerate potential benefits from power plant emissions reductions, ignore evidence that contradicts their assumptions, and misinterpret study results to make their case,” said report author Joel Schwartz, visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and JLF adjunct scholar.

You gotta hand it to these guys simply on the basis of sheer chutzpah. They can find an expert to defend almost any position they want, and they're willing to pay whatever it takes to get it done. From their "economists" who declare North Carolina is dying a slow death because of our crappy business environment to their "analysts" who said transit investments in Charlotte were a waste of money, the Puppets' track record on interpreting facts correctly is pretty much zip from what I can see.

So when it comes to dueling experts, you'll forgive me if I don't give these guys the benefit of any doubt. Anyone who is paying attention knows that they choose "scholars" and "experts" who will come to whatever preordained conclusions fit with their free-market fundamentalist views. Which is really too bad. You see, these guys are not actually dumb. They really could contribute to informed public policy if they weren't blinded by an ideological agenda.

Unfortunately, they now operate at a place where they can't imagine they're wrong about anything. That means we have to assume they're wrong about everything.